‽istis ponders
tactical voting, progressive v conservative and an inspirational line (weekending
June 1st 2024)
In an
earlier blog pretty much exactly a year ago ‽istis
listed a number of issues that had been the focus for that week’s ponderings.
Included was
this:
‘‽ Political
parties in the UK: ‘Conservative’ – seeking to conserve what? ‘Labour’
– working or not? ‘Liberal Democrat’ – just how liberal? The ‘Green Party’ –
why just one MP for the party that seems to address most directly what is
perhaps, possibly, maybe one of the most significant and critical issues of the
time[iii]? Plus, potential voting reform and proportional
representation. Plus, the possibility of a ‘progressive alliance’, advice for
voters, co-operation on fielding the candidate most likely to win in any area,
parties that might plan for a coalition aiming to be more progressive for many
- rather than retrogressive, status-quosive, conservative especially for a
few…?’
How pertinent right now..‽
·
Equality
– not least in relation to those people with experience and characteristics ‘protected’,
those more usually minoritised or excluded or dismissed or disadvantaged or
oppressed or blamed or vilified or ridiculed
· Living wages – so that work really does pay (and not that profits and bonuses of a few are subsidised)
Wealth creation - a means to an end not the end in itself
·
Rights
borne, upheld and seen alongside checks, balances and expectations regarding
powers, duties and responsibilities
·
Social
and criminal justice – restorative, redressing, reparative, rehabilitative
·
Public
goods and services – so that stuff we need and use and pay for together really
does work (and not that profits and bonuses of a few are subsidised[i])
– especially an integrated universal health and social care service
· Safety and ways of life protected and defended everywhere, for surely we are all safer when we are all safe (and an enabling 'foreign' policy perhaps becomes the best form of defence policy, and offensiveness is more rather than less prevented)
·
Sustainability,
our world and climate, our Planet A (where there is probably no realistic
prospect of finding a viable Planet B, however many millions of $ or ¥ are
spent) and its inter-related, inter-dependent, utterly connected symbiotic eco-systems
- appreciated, valued, protected and sacralised along with the life upon,
within and above it.
And as the week ends with the first campaign
polls starting to emerge in the current UK General Election, tactical voting is
promoted perhaps as a way of persuading people who would like to vote
for their ‘best’ but could live with ‘better’, who compromise to avoid ‘l'ennemi
du bien est le bien’[ii] (‘the
perfect is the enemy of the good’, or similar), who wish to progress things positively for
more of us, here and now, here and everywhere.
And, finally, this weekending a stand-out
phrase remains – from a BBC Radio 4 drama ‘The Specialist’.[iii]
A leading character, a Dr, was described as someone who[iv]
turned empathy into duty…
Readers of these ponderings and wonderings may not be surprised to find that ‽istis considers that such an approach - perhaps, possibly, maybe - could provide a guide to voting: right now in India; in the UK in a few weeks’ time; in the USA in November (whoever the candidates are, whether they have been found guilty or innocent, and wherever they may be residing[v])…
©‽istis
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this
week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on X/Twitter with replies,
retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the very
opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders.
X/Twitter ‘follows’ and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
[i] The
owners of the means of production and provision…
[ii]
Many references, including: https://www.betterup.com/blog/perfect-is-the-enemy-of-good#:~:text=to%20follow%20through.-,Where%20did%20%E2%80%9Cperfect%20is%20the%20enemy%20of%20good%E2%80%9D%20come%20from,du%20bien%20est%20le%20bien.
[iv]
And indeed, this characteristic may be a hallmark of Dr Who, too!
[v]
Many references including: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/06/trump-running-for-president-prison-00090931
